Flossie’s eyes were fixed upon the space Elke had been standing.
She was gone.
Elke was gone.
Her soul had been destroyed along with the crystal skull. Destroyed along with her father’s soul. They were no more.
Flossie was in awe of how brave Elke had been. There were grown men who cowered in the presence of Viktor Brun, but it was a young girl – his own daughter – who had stood up to him when no one else would.
The scene now lit only by the light of the moon, there was stunned silence from all present on top of the stone tower – living and dead. That is, until, as one, the officers started shouting and arguing. Only the spiritualist remained quiet – slumped upon the stone floor, looking utterly defeated.
Flossie, knowing they could no longer see her, ignored them all, intent on that spot Elke had stood in.
She’d do as Elke had asked. She’d always remember her. And Hana. She’d never forget what Elke had done; how many lives she’d probably saved by sacrificing herself and her father who she obviously loved, despite his faults.
Flossie felt something strange and wet on her face. At first she didn’t understand, but when she did, she gasped, bringing her fingers to her cheek.
She was crying. She could cry.
Shocked, she lifted up her keyed hand. The two keys had not only given her the power to hurl the crystal skull from the top of the rock formation, they’d also given her the ability to cry as the living did.
“Oh!” her hand shot to her chest as she detected something – the very faintest of heartbeats.
Hugo Howsham was leaning against the rock wall. “So,” he said. “Now you know.” He pushed himself up off the wall, appearing drained. “I’ll have my key back now, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course,” Flossie said. She couldn’t help but notice how nervous he was. Almost as if he thought she might not give his key back. She’d never seen Hugo Howsham nervous before. He knew that he’d given her the opportunity to be more powerful than him. To hold all the cards.
Flossie offered him her iron ring. He brought his own ring together with hers and another strange feeling swept over her – those same names and faces being stripped from her as if she was a tree being uprooted from solid ground. That power was taken from her too. There would be no more tears. No more fluttering heartbeat. She heard Hugo Howsham’s voice as if from afar.
“I am the Turnkey of Kensal Green; the dead remain at rest within.”
Flossie had to sit down – one key only jangling upon her iron ring once more. Hugo Howsham assisted her, catching her elbow and lowering her to the stone floor.
“I am sorry,” he said gruffly. “It’s not the most pleasant feeling.” He kneeled beside her. “Now do you understand why the other Turnkeys must never know?”
“I had a heartbeat and I could cry. If I could do all of that with two keys, what would happen if–”
“These are questions that are best not asked,” Hugo Howsham cut her off. “This is why I didn’t come with you to this place. Why I’ve stood back and watched this whole time. I was hoping that you would find another way to destroy the skull. You almost did. But there was no other way, as it turns out. Now you know what we were never meant to know and what you must never tell the other Turnkeys. You must promise me you won’t tell them. I should never have known myself that the keys could be combined. I found out by mistake and …” He looked away. “Sometimes I am sorry that I did.”
Flossie frowned. “What do you mean? How did you find out?”
“No more questions!” Hugo Howsham bellowed. “The Magnificent Seven never meant us to have this information and we must act like we don’t. As if we never knew at all. Are we agreed?” He offered her a hand up.
Flossie took it and rose. “I …” she started, not quite knowing what to say. She didn’t understand. Not at all. But, strangely enough, she trusted his judgement on this. She could see how if this knowledge fell into the wrong hands, terrible things might happen. “Yes,” she answered him. “I won’t tell them.”
“Good.”
She remembered something. The flash of black at Wewelsburg Castle. “You followed us, didn’t you? The first time I visited Wewelsburg Castle with Violet.”
He dipped his head. “Perhaps.”
“You did! I saw your coat.”
“I wasn’t sure you were up to the task.”
She remembered something else. “I didn’t want to tell you before, because … well, I was worried that you wouldn’t help me if you knew. Viktor Brun – he was the man who killed my father. Who sunk his ship. Who took his men.”
Before he could reply, their attention moved to the German officers who seemed to have worked out that the rock formation was useless to them now. After some discussion, two of them dragged the spiritualist to his feet and they retreated, crossing the iron footbridge and leaving Flossie and Hugo Howsham on their own.
Hugo Howsham cleared his throat, his attention moving to the moon above.
“I’m afraid I’ve said and done some rather foolish things, Miss Birdwhistle.” He ground his walking stick into the stone.
“Oh?” Flossie replied.
His green eyes moved back to her then, clear and true and very much like his sister’s. “I was wrong about you and I’m sorry for it.”
Flossie hadn’t expected such a direct apology.
“That’s all right,” she said. “I understand.” And she did understand. Being a Turnkey was difficult. She rarely thought she was making the right decisions. If Hugo Howsham returned to rest and someone her age was given the task of caring for Kensal Green, she knew she’d be dubious about their abilities too.
As a feeling of peace settled between them, Hugo Howsham took in their surroundings – the small rock altar, the rock towers, the lake in the distance. “What a strange life we have,” he said. “Or death, should I say?”
Flossie couldn’t help but agree with him. “Death is a strange place, Mr Howsham,” she replied. “I thought it was supposed to be all pearly gates and fluffy white clouds and angels and it’s not. There’s a lot no one ever told me about in Sunday School, that’s for certain.”
He laughed a short laugh at this and then bent down slightly to offer her his arm.
“Home?” he said.
“Home,” Flossie replied.